The Soul Haunter
by Luna Amelia Jackson
Summary: A body has been found, left in the middle of Cardiff, UNIT are in control, and someone is messing in the hub. It's up to Jack and the rest of Torchwood to sort everything out, but who is The Soul Haunter? And can the Torchwood team really, all be trusted? Rated T due to some mild swearing :)
1. prolouge

Prologue:

_She ran, not daring to glance behind her. She knew that if she slowed down at all, just for one second, They would get her. They would not try removing her this time; they would just kill the host. She had grown to like this girl, this petite brunette; she was in no rush to leave it. Also she hadn't fed in a while; she would barely last till morning unless she found another host. But a noise behind her caused her heart to stop, she could smell them now, closing in on the air, the host would not last out much longer, and she did not have the energy to go into recluse again. She was going to die, she was certain, unless… _

_She could smell something new now, a human, close by, a young woman, not fresh, but, she would do, in the building, just round the corner. The woman was strong, of that she was sure, and she smelt of adrenaline, almost as if she had felt the hunt before, though that was impossible. If she was going to change host, this was her only chance. She knew the host was gone, her personality crushed beyond help. The host was dead, though she had put up a good fight; she had lasted almost 2 days. Just as she raced round the corner, lungs burning, she breathed one last breath and released herself though one last exhale. The body immediately crumbled, causing one man to hurry out of his building in his night clothes. However he failed to notice the little wisp of smoke flying in the breeze, away from the 14 year old girl lying on the floor. _

_The smoke continued to drift, until it reached an open window in the upper floor of one of the buildings. Floating in, the smoke saw two humans, one male, one female. The male was quite large with short hair and a relaxed smile on his face, whereas the woman was small and skinny, yet well built, as if she ran a lot. She had shoulder length brown hair a lot like her last host, although this one appeared to have a smell gap between her two front teeth. The smoke hovered over the woman, before descending upon her, smothering her nose and mouth, whilst also positioning itself at the back of the woman's neck, it drained into her skin, her mouth. In an instant she was awake, screaming silently, failing to wake the prone figure next to her. Within second the internal struggle for control was over. Having supressed the host's personality, she sorted through her new, but bland memories. Felt through human fingers, seen through human eyes, although what amazing things were seen through these eyes, what strange textures were felt beneath these fingers. Then shortly before she backed down to allow the host some sleep, she found what she was looking for. A name. Her new name; Gwenn Cooper._


	2. Chapter 1

_Gwenn had a headache. She had had it when she woke up in the morning, she had it in the shower, and now, driving to work. She hoped she wasn't going down with something, not with the rift so active. Rhys had told her to take the day off, he was always telling her to do things like that, daft old Rhys, she loved him for it though, because he was so naïve and never mentioned her work, and never asked about the injuries that almost constantly covered her body. She checked her watch as she turned her small dark blue car into the car park. She was just on time, which was probably a good thing as Jack had been in a foul mood when she spoke to him earlier, something to do with UNIT parading through the streets last night, and something to do with a body, a body which was lying some way beneath her feet now. People walked around her, going about their normal business, not knowing about the things that were going on, going on all the time, while they ate chips and watched telly: that was a line Jack liked to use. Gwenn thought it was another thing he had picked up from his Doctor, his magically Doctor. The one who had come back, but Jack had chosen to come back to Gwenn, Tosh and Owen, although they all decided it was Ianto he had really come back for. By now she had reached the tourist information centre, this was her destination every morning, after all, that was where she worked. _

_Several hundred feet below her Captain Jack was worried. He was often worried about the rift however today he was more worried about the body. It had turned up late last night, around 11. Tosh had identified it using the documents and the missing person's website. It was Georgina Mayhew. 14 years old, who had run away from her house 2 days ago. No one had told her family yet, that was usually Gwenn's job. However Jack had no intention of letting Gwenn do that, because that would mean telling Gwenn where the body had been found, and under no circumstances was she finding that out._

_Gwenn came down in the lift with Ianto, who had already done the morning coffee run and had returned heavily laden with 4 cups of varying sizes and types. _

"_so what do you know of the body?" Iantos soft welsh voice echoed around the lift. _

_ "only what Jack decided to tell me" Gwenn replied_

"_guessing that isn't much"_

_ "dead right, all I know is that it's a girl, and she's dead. Anything else to add to that amazing collection?"_

"_She's 14 and ran away from home 2 day ago. Toshiko's going to tell the parents later." Iantos eyes flickered towards Gwenn as he said this._

"_that's odd," Gwenn frowned "talking to the ones that are left behind is usaually my job, since the others are all too 'clinical.'" At the last word Gwenn made speech marks with her fingers. Being clinical was one thing Jack always complained about, that's why he encouraged her relationship with Rhys. It kept her 'human,' which was a joke given what they fought. _

_By this time they were standing at the cog wheel door, watching it turn open with its usual fanfare of flashing lights and mechanical grindings. As they opened Gwenn caught an unusual flurry of Tosh closing a lot of windows on her computer screens. She hid a frown as Tosh looked over at her and smiled. Tosh was a small Japanese woman, with jaw length hair and smiley eyes. Today however, they were not smiling. Gwenn quickly dumped her stuff at her desk and hurried to join Owen and Jack in the autopsy room. _


	3. Chapter 2

Owen Harper had been about to start the examination when Gwenn hurried in, her usually smiley face was thin and long drawn. He glanced up and frowned slightly. "what's up?" he asked, not used to seeing her like that.

"Rotten night's sleep," she replied absent mindedly, more interested in the young girl on the autopsy table rather than Owens quizzical look. As Gwenn stood at the top of the stairs in the autopsy room, behind the metal chainlinks, looking down, she decided the girl was sleeping, sleeping very lightly, as if one noise would wake her. However the pale clammy skin said otherwise. "cause of death?" Gwenn asked Owen as he turned back to the table.

"unknown," he replied, "she's fine, nothing wrong with her, apart from being dead I mean the doctors couldn't find a thing, that's why she's here. "

"Alien?" Gwenn suspected she already knew the answer to that one.

"Almost certainly." Owen confirmed her thoughts. Jack _stood leaning against the wall, staring at the young girl who would now never grow up, and would never _see the joys of adulthood. In ways he envied her, she was allowed to die. Th_e_n Gwenn interrupted his thoughts. "how come you haven't asked me to do the deed of telling parents?"

He sighed as he searched his mind for a reasonable answer. "because of your headache" he answered finally. He knew it was a limp excuse, and Gwenn knew it too. But she knew better than to question his motives, all things would become clear in the end, meanwhile the pressure in her head was building, almost as if someone was inside her head, banging on a brick wall, hard. She couldn't help from raising her hand to her head. "need a painkiller?" jack asked his voice full of concern. "yeh, please" she replied finding it hurt too much to nod.

Owen was leaning over the body again as Jack hurried out the room to get tablets. "hope you're not getting shot in the head again" he joked. If Gwenn hadn't have been feeling as bad as she was, she would surely have hit him, as it was she just grunted. "I think a brain check was in order," Owen mused. Suddenly something inside Gwenn jumped, as if she was scared of him doing that. What? She questioned herself, he doesn't mean you, he means the girl, to see if anything had been running round in her head. Yet it still didn't calm her nerves, she was worried, worried at what he might find. "Owen…" she said,

"not now," he sighed.

Gwenn opened her mouth to say something to him, yet just as she was about to speak, she closed her mouth. Gwenn felt a spark of fear, she hadn't closed her mouth, these fears of the brain check, they weren't hers, she had to… she had to, she couldn't think, not over the pain in her head. Then the wall in her head broke and Gwenn Cooper was swallowed in the flood.


	4. Chapter 3

As she blinked she was aware of the bright lights shining on the autopsy table. Deep within Gwen Cooper she had been unable to understand quite how bright the lights were. To anyone looking from the outside nothing had happened, unless you looked closely at Gwen's eyes. Then you could see it, the dark haze that coated the usually deep brown irises. She was in control now, and she was the one facing the headaches as she heard Gwen screaming at her, however, now was not the time to dwell on that. She was glad she had come out when she had as otherwise she would have come out unprepared, had Gwen taken those tablets Jack was looking for Gwen would have fallen asleep leaving her to bluff her way out. Now however she had more pressing issues, she needed to deal with Owen…

He had his back to her as she walked down the stairs, holding the gun from Gwen's pocket steady in her hand. "Can you pass me that screwdriver?" Owens voice startled her; surprised he had heard her, she blinked then got back to the job at hand. She steadied the gun, then Crack. She brought the butt of it sharply down on his head. He sprawled to the floor in a heap. A small smile teased her lips as she looked at her handiwork. She could still hear Gwen screaming, and that made her want to smile even more, for she knew Gwen was aware of what her body was doing. Glancing around she reached out and removed the hard work from the brain scanner, without this the equipment wouldn't work. She knew this from Gwen's memories. Boy, this girl needed to work on her mental defences. Slowly she crept out of the autopsy room, having given Owen something she had mixed up that she knew would keep him out for at least half an hour.

Approaching Tosh's computer she sat down and quickly removed the CCTV from the entire hub for the past 15mins, and set the CCTV on stand-by for another 20. As she did this she reflected on how good it was that she had taken Gwen's body, out of all the women in the world. She was proving so much more useful than Georgina, who had not been much more than a stepping stone. Gwenn had power, they could go many places together, and if she let Gwen out of her own head occasionally she would be able to live longer, she was so much stronger, the headache proved this. Gwen was just sobbing now, unable to help, or control her own body, and it was killing her inside, literally.

Having completed all her chores and disposed of the hard work, she made her way back down to the autopsy room. She didn't know whether Gwen could read her yet, but she presumed not as Gwen was still silent. Having got there she bent down and retrieved the rest of the mix she had given Owen earlier, this one was diluted though, so it wouldn't last as long. Slowly she raised the beaker to her lips; she knew she would have seconds before she too collapsed. She drank the liquid in one long gulp. Immediately she felt so drowsy, and the beaker fell from between her numb fingers. Even in this confused state she knew this meant trouble, the others would be here soon… then it didn't matter as she fell into the black. Gwen gasped; suddenly back in control, but not for long. She fell to the floor drawing ragged breaths. Just as Jack jumped over the chain links towards her, the darkness found Gwen and she too was swallowed.


	5. Chapter 4

The first thing Gwen was aware of was the cold floor. She frowned, what was she doing on a floor? Someone was calling to her. "Gwen, can you hear me? Gwen?" she recognised the voice now. The American tones of Captain Jack, the leader of Torchwood. Slowly she opened her eyes and was momentarily blinded by the lights. When her sight had come back she could see Jacks face, peering down worriedly at her. "here." she croaked. Slowly she moved her arms, they felt heavy and moved in slow motion, like she was deep underwater. She pushed herself up so she could see around her. She was in the autopsy room, at the hub. An arm's length away she saw Owen on the floor, looking as stunned as she felt, he was being tended to by Tosh. "What.." she faltered as a wave of dizziness washed over her, she would have fallen back to the floor but Jack caught her. For a moment she sat there, trying to piece it all together. In the end she just gave up and asked "what happened?"

"We're not sure to be honest…" jack began "we think someone got in the hub but we don't know how or why. They seem to have drugged you and Owen but left the rest of us, they also deleted all the CCTV tapes. Again no idea how…"

"so basically you're clueless." Gwen summed up, groaning as another wave of pain rolled over her. She ignored it and tried to stand, she leaned heavily on the wall and with Jacks help got herself upright.

"I hate to ask, but…"

"do I remember anything?" Gwen interrupted him. "Nothing at all." But even as she said it she knew she was lying, she did remember, she remembered doing it, but no, that hadn't been Gwen Cooper, that had been her, the one in her head, the one who was awake now and seemed to be beating her up from the inside, yelling at her to keep quiet, else she'd have to take over again. Jack watched as Gwen's emotions washed over her face, pain, then anger, then something Jack was familiar with, he saw it on his own face way too often. It was a look of resignment.

Owen was having less luck in remembering. "One second I was setting up the scanner the next bang, I'm on the floor." He sounded irritated, angry at himself that he couldn't remember more. He glanced over a Gwen who looked lost and slightly scared, he hoped he didn't look like that, he felt stupid enough already. Slowly he got to his feet with Tosh's help and he and Gwen were led to the sofa when they were told to sit down and relax.

Ianto soon brought them a coffee each and they gratefully accepted them, drinking them quickly, as if eager to get back to work. A soon as his strength had returned Owen was back in the autopsy room, searching for the hard work. He was sure he had put it in the machine before he had been drugged, and even if he hadn't it wasn't on the floor, or in the spare parts box, or where they kept the scanner. Pretty soon the whole team was searching the hub for the missing piece. Gwen had assigned herself the vault, a part of the hub she normally avoided, but today was different. She knew she wouldn't find the piece, no one would, She had hidden it too well. Gwen could talk to her now, now she was aware of her presence. She just had to think and she would hear a reply, but it wouldn't be out loud. Perfect since she wasn't allowed to tell anyone else. Her first question had been the obvious one. Who are you?


	6. Chapter 5

"I have no name, at least not in your language." The voice that echoed in Gwen's head was soft, with a light welsh accent "however since I know yours it seems proper that you have one to call me by, you choose a name, something suitable, but not terrible."

Gwen racked her brains for a name that suited this voice, this creature which had ruined her morning and hurt her friend. Suddenly it came to her, the perfect title; The Soul Haunter.

"yes, I like it," the soul haunter mused. "I like it a lot Gwen Cooper…"

Why me? Gwen asked why not someone else? "you suited my needs, that is all. You were the only one suitable a close distance from my last host" an image flashed into Gwen's head. You mean the girl in the autopsy room? You did that to her? "she was weak," the soul haunter said, "her personality died while I was in control, I couldn't do a thing." Gwen's face was one of disgust as she questioned the voice in her head, do you kill everyone? Is it just the weak? How long do we last? "don't worry, you're safe for now," her voice sounded as if the soul haunter was smiling. "You've survived nearly half a day already, that's very good going. The most I've had one last is 3 days, don't worry, you are one of the strongest of your species I have encountered." Somehow that doesn't reassure me, Gwen thought as she moved to a different section of the vault.

By 4 they had all but given up on finding the hard work. So they sat and ate pizza while they talked through their next move. All were surprised when Gwen only managed half her pizza, she usually finished first. It was soon evident to Gwen that the soul haunter had done lots to make the torchwood team, and it seemed the rest of wales, cut off from the rest of the world. The telephones were down, the internet signal diminished. No one knew what was going on and it was causing major panic. Even Jack was confused by what was going on, however Gwen understood, the soul haunter was distracting them, away from her away from Gwen, then she'd be able to work in private without them working out what was wrong, or that was the plan the soul haunter had. Gwen had something different in mind however. She kept it hidden, in the jar in her mind. The one she had created years ago, not believing that anything would come of it but the jar was impossible to open, no matter how it was tried, it was a mental jar and only Gwenn could get to it, and it seemed to be working. The soul haunter had no idea.


	7. Chapter 6

Jack was confused. It took a lot to make Jack confused but something was wrong, he could taste it. He just couldn't tell what. Everyone was acting weirdly, especially Gwen. Right now she was using her left hand to use her mouse and earlier she had been writing with that hand. She was right handed, she thought left handers hadn't been taught to write properly, or so she had said one drunken night. What one earth was going on with her? Ever since she'd been drugged, even while he was waiting for her to wake up, she'd been moaning and shaking her head, as if she was having a conversation. At least her headache had gone away. Or at least, she hadn't mentioned it, but sometimes she frowned and rubbed her head as if it hurt her. Maybe she was just having an off day…

Tosh had gone to see the girl's parents, even with the phone lines down; there was no point in leaving them worried. They had come up with an appropriate cover story while at the hub and as soon as the testes were over they would release the body. There would be tears, of that Tosh was certain. Out on the streets everyone was confused, trying to go about their business but finding they couldn't, not without the technology they had come to rely on. It was a good thing Tosh's device had no need for signal, neither did the ear pieces, so Tosh was able to hear Owen yelling at Ianto as they tried to fix the telephone exchange, which had somehow been tampered with from the hub. Tosh was needed there but in the meeting it had been decided she was more useful in telling the parents. Gwen had stayed silent throughout the discussion, and she still wasn't looking well, sometimes there was this haze in her eyes, as if Gwen wasn't really there. But the scan Tosh had secretly done had showed nothing worrying, a small amount of spikes in brain activity, but nothing else. She had sent the readings to Jack just to make sure, but he couldn't make anything of them either.

Owen meanwhile was still trying to remember what had happened down in the autopsy room, with not much luck. He remembered asking Gwen for a screwdriver, then a sharp pain in his head. At least he had assumed he had been talking to Gwen. That in itself didn't make sense. She blacked out after him according to Jack, yet when he'd been attacked she hadn't raised the alarm, she must have been drugged after him, quite a bit after him judging from when Jack had found them, it just didn't make sense, he told Ianto. She claimed not to know anything, no one believed her, something was going on in that head of hers, but what…


	8. Chapter 7

Gwen was doing it on purpose. She was being as weird as possible, writing left handed, not eating her pizza. She hadn't even asked if she could check on Rhys. As far as she could tell it was working, Jack and the others kept frowning at her, like they were confused. Another bonus was that The Soul Haunter hadn't worked out what she was doing yet. Her ideas were hidden, sealed in her jar, and only she knew the contents of that. Jack had asked her to cover the news stories of all the telephones going down, this was usually part of Iantos job, but as he was off gallivanting with Owen, Gwen was happy to sit and do something less harmful. The Soul Haunter on the other hand was bemused "you're the hands - on girl, what are you doing staying in the hub?" I'm fine Gwen thought back, here I can stop you doing any major damage. The Soul Haunter laughed, it was a sour laugh, "oh, you think?" she questioned Gwen "I could force you to open the rift in the blink of an eye." Unfortunately Gwen knew it to be true. It had been The Soul Haunter who sat through the meeting, and The Soul Haunter had been the one to report the rifts' activities to Tosh. Gwen had fought harder than before at that point, for The Soul Haunter had lied, but Gwen was unaware of what she had lied about.

Suddenly Gwen knew, knew it was time, she needed to tell Jack. Quickly she took this thought and stuffed it in her jar. It was looking a bit battered now, as if someone had been throwing it down the stairs. The Soul Haunter wanted to know what was inside.

"Gwen, can you read the rift spikes again?" Tosh's soft voice came through the ear piece. Before she could even open her mouth she heard The Soul Haunter "sorry again Gwen." Then, she blinked and she watched from the inside of her head as she got up and walked to Tosh's computer "course Tosh," she heard herself say. Inside her head was strange, she felt nothing, no heat, no textures. It was like watching and listening to something on TV. She had no control over anything. The Soul Haunter sat down as Jack came over.

"You ok Gwen? You look tired" Jack said the concern evident in his eyes.

"I'm fine," The Soul Haunter replied echoing Gwen's voice.

"Ok..." Jack frowned as he walked off. Gwen screamed his name, wishing and willing Jack to hear her, she had to do something. But she couldn't do it from this side of the wall.

Shuttup, The Soul Hunter's voice rolled around Gwen, as if she was cocooned in a blanket. "no!" Gwen screamed, "You can't do this, leave! Now!" Gwen Cooper, you know I can only enter a woman, would you force this on Toshiko, or another young girl, only to reach the same fate as the last one? The soul Haunter thought back as she scanned the rift readings with Gwen's eyes. Gwen fell silent realising that this alien in her mind, could make her do anything, that she, and the rest of the world was at her mercy. Good girl, purred The Soul Haunter. Now what do you make of these readings. Gwen looked at the readings on the screen and her heart did a backflip, "those spikes are massive, something's coming through the rift, you've got to tell Tosh!" Or, I could not, The Soul Haunter smiled Gwen's smile and fed Tosh another lie. Oh, Tosh, Gwen thought, when you discover the truth, please forgive me, for I cannot do a thing.


	9. Chapter 8

The phone was ringing, Jack could hear it, but he was down in the vaults, whereas the phone was in the top of the hub. "Gwen," he said turning on his earpiece. "Can you get that?"

"yeh," she replied, her voice devoid of emotion. The ringing cut off sharpish. "Hello?" he heard Gwen say before she turned off her earpiece. He looked Janet, the resident weevil over one last time and jogged out of the vault.

He had just got back to the hub when Gwen hung up. Her brown eyes looked wide, and worried. "What's wrong?" he asked as he approached. "I hope it's not the PM again, 'cause I told him earlier, we were dealing with it."

"No," Gwen faltered. "Jack, it was UNIT, they want control." Jack stared at her, waiting for her to smile, or look away from him, but she didn't. She was serious. UNIT wanted control; things had to be serious outside the bubble of Wales.

"Wait, like take control of the operation or of Torchwood?" he asked, wondering which of the two he was more worried about.

"The man on the other end didn't exactly make that clear… I presume just the operation. Oh, Owen and Ianto are on the way back, they fixed the phones."

"Well I guessed that," Jack said, nodding at the phone.

"Obviously." Gwen said hitting her head with the palm of her hand. "You'll be pleased to know the Medias calming down."

Well that's one blessing," he said, walking away. "Now, I'd better go and talk to UNIT."

"UNIT, London." The brisk efficient tone reached jack's ear as he sat, feet on desk, in his office.

"Torchwood," Jack replied. "3." Immediately, the tone of voice changed, it sounded less genuine, but a lot more scared, and worried.

"Captain Harkness, were you wishing to talk to an authoritive figure, or" the voice paused, "Madam Jones?" Jack sighed, he had met this reaction before, the people of UNIT had quite a love/ hate relationship with Torchwood, they also seemed to have the same reaction to Martha Jones.

"Both please" jack answered keeping his poise and pretending not to hear the change of tone. "Authority first I think."

"One moment please, Captain." The voice dripped with sarcasm at the word captain, as if scum would be a better title. Jack had no time to reply before he was re-directed to Colonel Mace.


	10. Chapter 9

"Sir!" Mace snapped at the phone. Sometimes, Jack could see where the Doctor had been coming from when he said UNIT was over the top, however, their red berets were still worth chasing after, he thought wryly.

"Captain actually." Jack replied automatically. "You wished to speak with me colonel?"

"Yes Captain. About the goings on in Cardiff, and the rest of Wales for that matter. Our sources say it all came from your 'hub,' is this correct?"

"I'm afraid so… someone broke in and did this, they drugged and injured two of my team, there is no way to trace them they disabled the CCTV."

"Right. Well I must say Captain, I am disappointed, I was under the impression you had the best system in the world."

"So did I, it uses retina recognition to allow access. Obviously they were over ridden in one way or another, don't know how, and don't know why." Jacked sighed, he hated not knowing things. He was meant to be the super cool 51st century guy who knew everything.

"I suggest we lead this operation Captain, we believe we know what is behind these attacks on Wales and we are most eager to recover it." The colonel's voice told Jack that this wasn't merely a suggestion, but an order.

"This wouldn't be anything to do with Georgina Mayhew would it? The girl your team were chasing? The one that is now dead? Would it?" jack asked avoiding the previous statement.

"Ah, yes, poor little Georgina, you still have her body, I presume? How has Owen Harper done? Found anything? My operatives were most concerned to know Torchwood had taken over the operation. For some reason, they don't seem to trust you. Something to do with an earthquake apparently." The colonel's voice had started to slow down but now it was back to its usual business like tones. "Anyway." He said. "You will no longer concern yourself with UNIT affairs. Your team is to step down; you must all take some leave. I hear Gwen Cooper is getting married soon, yes? She needs some time to organise that so… oh, and we will require unlimited access to you 'hub,' I assume we will see you when we arrive. Au revoir Captain Jack." The colonel hung up before Jack could open his mouth. His eyes narrowed as he thought about how well that conversation had gone. No way was any UNIT member, save one, going anyway near his hub, or his team. Under no circumstances was he going to start taking orders from them!

Again he signed, then grabbed the phone and dialled Martha's mobile, she'd know what was going on.


	11. Chapter 10

Gwen could still hear Jack, she couldn't hear Martha, she presumed he was talking to Martha. She could only hear him because he had forgotten to turn his earpiece off; maybe he'd done it on purpose. Gwen had never pretended to understand Jack's motives. Jack was currently insulting UNIT again, he seemed very agitated and Gwen considered asking Ianto to take him a coffee when she thought about The Soul Haunter. She had been very quiet for quite some time now, maybe she was lulling Gwen into a false sense of security, maybe she was just listening to Jack, trying to patch it all together, just as Gwen herself was. "And finally, the great Torchwood gets something right." The Soul Haunter's voice was back. Gwen quickly touched her ear, disconnecting her earpiece. "Yet, she still disobeys me, I could destroy you, I could make you rip this world apart, I could make you kill Rhys, but yet you do this. I don't want to do this the hard way Gwen Cooper but you're forcing my hand…" she tailed off. Gwen's stomach lurched, a sign she was now familiar with. "Don't you f-ing dare!" she hissed at The Soul Haunter. Ianto frowned at her as he came towards her to give her a coffee. "What's up Gwen?" he asked, wondering if she was talking to him.

"Oh, don't worry Ianto, I think my headaches considering making a comeback." Gwen said. That was the public name for The Soul Haunter. Gwen's headache. Ianto shrugged.

"Painkiller?" It was one word but Gwen could hear The Soul Haunter laughing.

"No thanks Ianto, I'm sure it won't last long." She smiled at him. "Oh, and thanks for the coffee."

"No problem." He said as he walked away. Gwen was looking at the coffee and so did not see the frown as it spread across Ianto's face, something was up with Gwen, and it wasn't just the headache.

Owen checked the results again. No, that couldn't be right he thought, he had to be missing something. She was normal, completely normal. Gwen's blood was no different from her original DNA sample. It had to be impossible, something had to be in Gwen, she wasn't being like this of her own accord, of that he was sure. They all thought so. Gwen hadn't noticed the little conversations, yet, but she would. Not much escaped Gwen's notice, probably something to do with her police training. Although it may be she wasn't meant to notice them, they had absolutely no way of knowing what was Gwen and what was, well whatever was happening to her. Gwen was still at her computer, where she sat, and did nothing. She frowned occasionally, like she could hear something, something she didn't want to hear, it just didn't make sense, if Gwen was still Gwen, at least sometimes, why didn't she tell them, why didn't she show some sign, or maybe that's what she was doing…

"Owen, meeting room please." Jacks voice came through the earpiece. "oh, and don't let Gwen see you go."


	12. Chapter 11

Owen could already hear the others as he approached the meeting room. He entered noting how tense they all looked, except Ianto, who never looked stressed, he was dolling out coffee, being his usual self. Jack looked up from the medical reports as he sat down. "What took you so long?" he asked.

"Gwen was looking for you; I had to take the SUV round the block to convince her you were out." Owen replied. Jack just grunted. "It feels so weird, deceiving Gwen like this." The others nodded their agreement.

"It's got to be done," Tosh reasoned. "We don't know what's going on, Gwen might be in danger and we need to make sure she doesn't get hurt."

"Anyway," Jack started. "We need to talk about what we're gonna do about it. So far, all we've agreed is that she's not herself and it's something to do with why UNIT are taking charge. I've told you that UNIT want to get in here, which they are not doing, under any circumstances, although Martha is seeing if she can come down here. What do we have on the medical front, Owen?"

"Normal, completely normal. Nothing at all, picture of perfect health."

"Well that can't be right," Tosh argued.

"Well, no one told Gwen's DNA that…"Owen tailed off as Ianto walked back in.

"Gwen's not asking about you guys anymore." He said as he picked up their empty coffee cups.

"What is she doing then?" Jack asked. Trying to hide the fact he was scared of what Gwen might be doing, nearly succeeding to too, but not quite.

"Nothing, she's just, not doing anything. It's weird, a bit like she's in a trance…"

"Right," Jack cleared his throat, like he always did when he was about to say something that people wouldn't like. "We can't go and see what's wrong with her, we need to leave her there, it may be a trap, don't give me those faces. We can't go and get ourselves into trouble, who would help Gwen then, because I bet it wouldn't be UNIT. As much as it pains us, we need to leave her be, however Ianto, could you back out there and keep an eye on her from a distance, so she doesn't notice. Keep your earpiece on at all times so we know what's going on, I've blocked hers so she can't hear what we're saying, even when it's on." Ianto nodded and hurried out. "Tosh? What have we got from UNIT because they appear to be keeping Martha in the dark as well. Maybe we shouldn't have let them work out that we talked a lot."

"Nothing, just that it's alien and it's dangerous, they aren't keeping a single record of this operation."

"Brilliant, so we have no idea about what we're up against and we have no way of finding out."

"'bout sums it up." Owen huffed. "Fantastic."

"Jack," Iantos voice was in all of their ears. They looked at each other before Jack replied yes. "UNIT have just touched down, they want to see you."

Jack sighed and looked at the others "Owen and Ianto, stay here, keep an eye on Gwen and do not let her out of the hub. Tosh, with me, let's go meet some men in red berets."


	13. Chapter 12

As Tosh and Jack were leaving Gwen got up and walked over to Owen. "Where have the others gone?" she asked eyebrows furrowed.

"They've gone to meet UNIT. We've come up with a plan to make them think they can't get into the hub."

"How d'yah manage that? And how come we weren't, no, I wasn't told about it?" Gwen reddened as she noticed her mistake.

"Easy, Tosh has rigged it so if anyone was to scan the hub or try and get in without us, the hub would read as if it was in total shutdown, we've said it was another bug that alien put in. we didn't tell you because you seemed really tired." Owen smoothly said, making the lie seem as convincible as possible. He also pretended not to see her slip up.

"Okay, so what, we just stay in here and wait for UNIT to find the alien and shoot it, or are we going to do some work?" Gwen's eyes seemed dark and out of focus as she said this.

"We are going to be working, but undercover; we're staying here and listening for the moment while Jack and Tosh bug as many UNIT boys as possible."

"Got it," Gwen smiled thinly, a fake smile. "Ianto, can I have a coffee? Black please." Ianto frowned, Gwen didn't drink black coffee, but he nodded and walked to the kitchen.

Martha smiled at Jack as she got off the plane. He and Tosh stood a little way off, near the baggage unloader. Neither looked very happy. As he walked up to them she saw tilt his head, a minute bit to the left. A silent message, was she being followed, bugged? She rolled her eyes, telling him she had nothing on her. At once he smiled and walked over to her, throwing his arms round her. "Get as many as possible," he whispered in her ear as they parted. She could feel something in her pocket, the bugs. She hadn't even felt him put them in there, no one could possibly have noticed. Tosh smiled at her. Have a good journey?"

"Yes thanks. Tom didn't what me to come, but, what could he do. How's Owen faring?"

"Fine, he's back to his old self, well except for the fact he's dead I mean." Tosh answered. Jack was no longer paying attention. He was looking over Martha's shoulder, at Colonel Mace, who was looking right back at him.

"Ah, Captain Harkness." Colonel Mace started walking towards the small group. "I heard about the misfortune that has befallen your 'hub' and some of your team members. One of our agents just went round and gave your story the thumbs up not 5 minutes ago, we hope your forgive our lack of trust but we have to be sure with what we're up against. We assume you're working on it and that we will be able to access soon." He looked at Jack, having finished his miniature speech.

"Correct, my team are working on as we speak. We have managed to find all of your team accommodation, even at short notice. You will be in apartments just across the bay. The whole of Cardiff can be seen from out any of the windows."

"Good, good." Mused Mace. "We have some more information for you on Georgina Mayhew, captain."

"Excellent, maybe we should go and discuss it somewhere a little more private." Jack replied with a meaningful glance towards the other UNIT men and some civilians. As they strolled towards the UNIT potable 'base' Tosh turned to Martha and said, "I could do with the restroom, couldn't you?" Martha frowned in bemusement until she noticed the look in Tosh's eye and they walked towards the small building that served as Cardiff's airport.


	14. Chapter 13

Gwen sighed. She was bored now, bored and tired. She'd been up since 8 am yesterday, it was now half 2 in the afternoon, drawing in to two days, the best anyone had lasted. The Soul Haunter claimed that because Gwen was allowed control of her own body occasionally, she would last longer, but there were no promises. Martha had put the contact lenses back in once she and Tosh had got to the restroom, but there had been nothing exciting yet. Jack had found out that they were looking for an alien, who could go from one host to another, but he didn't know that she could control the host body, although the way Gwen was behaving, hopefully he would put two and two together, sooner rather than later.

"What do you mean, the way you're behaving?" The Soul Haunter's voice startled Gwen; she had forgotten to put her thoughts in the Jar. No-nothing, just, with you mucking around in my head, when you're in charge, they're bound to notice you doing things that I don't do.

"Fine. Well you'd better start telling me when I'm not behaving how you would. We don't need The Red Berets finding out that you're the one I'm residing in, and not just for my sake either. They will shoot you if they find out, have no doubt about that." What is it with you and your red berets, they have a name, they're UNIT. "I call them Red Berets because that's what they are in my language, in your language." Not quite sure I understood all of that but whatever. Gwen hated this; all the others were running around trying to find out what they were up against, when Gwen knew, and she couldn't tell a soul, not if she wanted the whole planet to stay in one piece. Tosh had seen the rift spikes a while ago, luckily for Gwen she hadn't seen the fact that Gwen, or The Soul Haunter had lied. Now the team had to deal with another thing, the rift spikes were getting bigger, and more frequent. They also seemed to be spreading, they were currently on the outskirts of Cardiff, but were getting further and further away with every second. What are you doing? Gwen thought to The Soul Haunter, who had not taken charge for a while, she seemed to be waiting, but Gwen had no idea what she was waiting for. "Nothing, just watching, as my little plan comes to life." Oh, yeh. Gwen challenged and what is your 'little plan' as you put it? "You think I the great alien would tell you, the alien hunter. If you knew, you would tell someone. I am not having you do that." Well if that's the case, I'd better tell someone anyway, and then they can stop you, never mind about me.

"NO!" The Soul Haunter's voice stung Gwen's mind, causing her eyes to water in pain. "YOU ARE NOT GOING TO TELL ANYONE ANYTHING GWEN COOPER,_ you_ won't be able to." And with that The Soul Haunter swam through Gwen's mind, crushing every ounce of her. Though Gwen tried to fight her, The Soul Haunter was too strong, and Gwen Cooper was lost.


	15. Chapter 14

Martha hated these contact lenses. They made her want to blink more than usual, but she couldn't because otherwise she would miss some things that Torchwood would need to see. She had bugged 15 different officials so far. They were all proving very useful apparently. There wasn't much for them to do, up in their apartment, with the hub under 'lockdown' they had to stay with UNIT. She and Tosh were sharing a room and Jack had one across the hall, but he wouldn't be in there, she knew that much. He would be on the roof, as he often was. He was good on roofs, although apparently they didn't make good places for dates. There was a knock at the door.

"Yes?" Tosh answered the knock. A young burley UNIT soldier peered round the small wooden door, he seemed scared. The emotion didn't suit him.

"Miss Martha Jones?" he said, he voiced showed he was scared too.

"That's me," Martha smiled hoping to reassure the soldier; instead he just looked more scared than before.

"Colonel Mace wants to see you." He quickly moved to close the door, then opened it a bit wider "He's in meeting room 7." Having decided that was all he needed to say he retreated down the corridor. Martha and Tosh listened till his footsteps had faded away before they said anything.

"Well," Martha said eventually. "I suppose I'd better go and see him, hadn't I."

"Yeh," Tosh nodded, "He's bugged isn't he?"

"Not yet, unless Jack got one on him somehow, but I know that Colonel Mace loves to change his clothes just in case."

"right, well take a bug And put it on yourself, that way we can hear whatever is going on, but be careful, it won't work through max security walls, so try to avoid them. Also, keep the contacts in, no matter what."

"Yes ma'am." Martha smiled as she snapped a fake salute. Tosh smiled back, hers not quite looking as real as Martha's had.

"I'll tell Jack what's going on." Martha caught a glimpse of Tosh placing her earpiece in before she closed the door and strolled down the hallway.

As she waited for the lift, Martha wondered what Colonel Mace could want her for, maybe he had worked out that the hub wasn't under lockdown, and was going to hold Martha until Jack came to explain what was going on, maybe someone was hurt, or maybe, Martha shook her head, she was letting her imagination get away from her. The lift doors opened with a happy ping and out stepped Jack. He grinned cheekily at her before moving to let her get in. she smiled back as she got into the lift and pressed the button marked 'Ground floor.' Before the doors had fully closed Jack chucked something at her feet. It was an earpiece, very small and almost invisible, just like the other Torchwood members had. Quickly she took it out of its packing and placed it in her ear. She turned it on, just in time to hear Jacks voice, American twang and all fill her ear. "Good luck, Miss. Jones, we're right behind you.

Jack and Tosh sat on the edge of the bed, watching the laptop, to anyone looking in they could be watching a show, but this was a lot more real than any TV show. They stared at the monitor as they heard Mace and Martha argue through the speakers.

"I'm sorry Miss. Jones, but the alien may make its next attack at any time, we have got to be one step, if not two ahead of it. We are storming Cardiff."

"You can't, what about the civilians? We as UNIT are meant to be secret, what's it going to do to Torchwood, they're not even known about by the Prime Minister!"

"I can, and I will. We will try to keep the civilians out of it as much as possible, but if any don't follow instructions, we will have to take action against them. Torchwood brought this on themselves when they took Georgina Mayhew's body off us."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well, first, I will get the civilians out of the way, then, I suppose. The hunt is on."

"you make it sound like a game Colonel, but what about the people who get hurt, I bet they won't find it as fun as you do. Also, I don't think Torchwood is just going to stand back and let you rampage their town."

"You are right, Miss. Martha, as always, it is like a game, with one winner and one loser. I refuse to let the loser be us, as in every game, there may have to be some sacrifices. You owe nothing to Torchwood Martha; let them fight their own battles, if they choose to go up against us, that's their problem, not yours. I hope they will fight with us, just as I expect you to."

"I'll make this clear then, I am, and always will be on Torchwood's side, no matter what, if they go up against you, so will I, no matter the consequences. Understood?"

In the room, Jack groaned, it was the first noise he had made for at least 5 minutes. Now she had said that, UNIT wouldn't be so trusting of her anymore

"I won't argue you on this one Jones. I just hope you know what you doing, for your sake. Go, tell your Torchwood friends what going on."

Martha walked out the room and tapped her earpiece. "Jack?" she listened to the crackle of the signal.

"No, me I'm afraid." Tosh answered.

"Where's Jack?" Martha frowned; Jack didn't like to turn his earpiece off, just in case.

"He had to take a call, it was Owen, they just found Gwen in the vaults. Unconscious."


	16. Chapter 15

Gwen stared into the black. She couldn't see anything, couldn't hear a whisper. "Soul Haunter!" she yelled into the darkness. "Soul Haunter, what have you done?" her voice dropped like a stone. She tried to stand but then noticed her body, well her lack of a body. She wasn't there; she had no body, no physical form. Yet she could see, and speak, well she assumed that she could see and speak, it could just all be a figment of her imagination, she hadn't a clue. Her thoughts backtracked. Her imagination. Then she got it. It was in her imagination, it was in her head, just like before. That, hopefully meant she wasn't dead, she didn't think she was… only one way to find out. "Soul Haunter, come here and talk to me you cowardly bastard!" suddenly the hairs on the back of her imaginary neck stood up and she whirled round almost bumping into the creature that stood behind her. The Soul Haunter, at last. She was tall and roughly humanoid in shape with pure black eyes. Her skin was rough and grey, almost like an elephants. The soul haunter flicked her forked tongue over her lips. Gwen could see no teeth so to speak of, but she didn't want to get to close, just in case. "Hello again Soul Haunter" said Gwen staring into her eyes.

"Gwen Cooper, nice to..." she paused as her eyes searched the space in front of her. "See you. You know you can create an image of yourself, after all it is your head." Gwen concentrated, painting an image of herself in her mind; slowly she formed it in front of her and stepped inside. Opening her eyes she looked down to see her limbs, large as life. She wiggled her fingers, they wiggled back. Her, now visible eyes snapped back to the Soul Haunter's. "Well done." The Soul Haunter's voice was exactly as it had been before although Gwen could hear the obvious sarcasm.

"So what happened?" Gwen asked ignoring it completely.

"You don't remember? Well no you probably wouldn't…"

"You going to tell me or just stand there speculating on why I can or cannot remember what happened?" Gwen interrupted her.

"You happened Gwen Cooper. I tried to blot you out, not just take over but also, well." She stopped searching for an explanation which would make sense. "Imagine it like this. I tried to knock you out mentally, disable your brain functions, so I could take control, without you blabbing in my ear. But you wouldn't go down without a fight. You ran head first into a wall as soon as I knocked you out; it was like a headless chicken effectively."

"Are you comparing me to a headless chicken?" Gwen frowned.

"Not at all, all I'm saying is that you managed to knock me out too. This is really just part of our consciousness talking, the rest is asleep. It means neither of us can control the body."

"My body you mean, not the body." Gwen couldn't believe the conversation she was having, the way she was talking about her body, as if she was already dead. But she wasn't, and while she wasn't dead she was going to fight. Wait, what was she fighting for? She couldn't remember anything before opening her eyes to this empty darkness. "Why?" she faltered. "Why can't I remember anything?"

"It must be that your memories are still asleep. You just don't know anything from your past, but don't worry. Hold on to your instincts, they will get you far, and tell you what to do when the time comes."

"Why are you telling me this? We're on opposite sides, you want something out for us, and we've got to stop you." Gwen knew this, although she had no idea who 'we' was.

"I can't take over if you're not awake first, your body would reject me. If I talk to you, you will wake up quicker. So yes we are on opposite sides, and yes I hate you, but right now I need you alive, else my plan will not work." Gwen frowned, so it wasn't anything personal, she was just something being kept, because one day it would prove useful. Nice.

"Will I remember this when I wake?" she asked, not daring to hope.

"No, you shouldn't." Gwen hid her smile

"So, since I won't remember it, care to tell me all your evil plans and what you going to do?" The Soul Haunter cocked her head to the side, as if contemplating Gwen's proposal.

"I suppose so…" she said finally. She waved her hand and two cracked leather chairs appeared. "Sit, and I will tell you my story."

It may have been minutes in may have been an eternity but eventually Gwen stood up, she had wept and she had felt a hatred burning deep inside of her but now she just looked. The Soul Haunter still sat there, looking back at Gwen. She looked so alien now, so in-humane. What she was doing was wrong. So twisted. Suddenly, a crack of light appeared, Gwen knew what this was. She was waking up, what she would find, God only knew. She took what she saw and locked in her, deep buried deep. She looked again at The Soul Haunter and then allowed herself to rise to the surface, like a diver, coming up for air.


	17. Chapter 16

"She seems fine, I mean, other than the massive bang on the head. She'll probably wake within half an hour. Although whether she remembers what happened is a different matter."

"Could it be the alien again?"

"Maybe, although it didn't seem to do anything to the hub, or the outside world. Why would you break into the most protected place in the world just to knock someone out, even if it's Gwen?" Owen and Ianto's voices sounded far off and echoey. Gwen groaned, her head hurt. She couldn't remember anything past being screamed at by the soul haunter, then, nothing. Slowly she became aware of a bright light shining through her eyelids. Owen and Ianto appeared to have gone, and so had The Soul Haunter. Well, Gwen couldn't hear her, though she still seemed to have a headache, but that could just be because she had been knocked out. Somehow she didn't think so, in order for The Soul Haunter to be gone, Gwen would have had to have come into contact with another female, Gwen didn't think she had, so The Soul Haunter must still be there, just she must be dormant. Gwen opened her eyes and was momentarily blinded. She blinked until her eyes adjusted and then slowly sat up. She was in the sick bay at the hub. It was one of 3 small rooms with en-suite bathrooms, they weren't used very much. As she sat up both Owen and Ianto rushed into her room. As usual Owen had no bedside manner; he immediately shone a light in her eye. Satisfied he set about checking the monitors that Gwen was attached to. Ianto, on the other hand, was a bit nicer. "How are you feeling?" He asked, sliding into the chair next to her bed.

"Lousy." Gwen croaked back, god her throat was dry. Into passed her a small glass of cool water. She quickly drained it and passed it back to him, smiling her thanks. "So what happened?" she asked finally.

"not a clue, as per usual. You got knocked out whilst you were in the vaults, we have no idea how it was managed. No alarms went off, the door hasn't been opened since Tosh and Jack left. No ones been in, or out."

"useful, are you sure I didn't just slip on something?"

"no, the way you were slouched suggests you were hit from behind, you were near the doorway, which also backs up that theory."

"Right," for some reason Gwen was relieved that they thought she had been attacked, what had she done to make her glad that that was what they thought? Her head was a bit muddled, there was something she needed to do, she just couldn't remember wht. She slowly became aware of Ianto looking at her, like he had asked her a question. "Sorry, what?" She blinked.

"I asked whether you wanted a pain killer." Iantos eyes showed his concern.

"NO! I mean no, thank you, I'm fine." Gwen stumbled. Ianto just shrugged.

"I told jack by the way." Ianto casually called over his shoulder as he walked out the door

"You what?!" Owen, who had been watching the whole conversation grinned at Gwen's face, it was priceless

"Mind if I take a picture?" he smiled, producing his camera phone.

"Shuttup." Gwen was already removing the cables and wires attached to her.

"Whoa, you're not going anywhere. That twice in two days you've been knocked out. Half an hour in bed, at least. More if you can handle it." Owen moved toward the bed and re-attached the wires.

"No." Gwen pushed his hands away "There's something I need to type up."

"I'm sure that whatever it is can wait half an hour Gwen. You need rest. I am a doctor, you are my patient, and you do as I say. Unless you want me to drug you to make sure you rest." He produced a hypodermic needle from inside his lab coat

"God no. Fine, I'll rest." Gwen lay back down as Owen finally succeeded in fixing all the wires "What did Jack say anyway?"

"He's concerned of course, we are all meant to be on red alert from now on, but he can't come back, because of UNIT, their planning something apparently. He wants to know when your back on your feet." Owen started moving towards the door. "You, rest." He closed it firmly behind him. Gwen knew they would be watching her via the CCTV so she turned her head in that direction and narrowed her eyes. She sighed, this was going to be a long half hour.


	18. Chapter 17

Three hours later she was still there. Something to do with unusual brain activity. Owen was trying to get a fix on it. Meanwhile Gwen knew exactly what or even who was causing these readings. The Soul Haunter was awake. She couldn't remember anything either, or so she said. She was in charge at the moment because, she reasoned, that Gwen's brain waves could be suppressed much more easily, making them harder to pick up. Owen had just come back in from talking to Jack. He wasn't sure what the scans meant either. UNIT hadn't moved yet, but they were preparing to. It wouldn't be long before something that couldn't be covered up happened, before it got out of hand. Basically, they were getting worried.

"Jack suggests you stay in bed."

"But…"

"No buts, Captain's orders, and Doctor's too for that matter."

"Owen, I can't stay here, I've got to help you lot!"

"We can manage without you for now Gwen, seriously. We don't know what's going on inside that head of yours, although you seem to be normal in every other way. With an alien on the loose, it's better if you stay there."

"So, I'm not trusted then, that's nice!" Gwen's voice was full of resentment at the accusations.

"No, No, No." Owen shifted under Gwen's intense gaze. "Just, if you're not feeling well, it's better if you stay there."

"I'm fine! What will it take to prove this to you?" The Soul Haunter wanted out, she had plans she had to do.

"Gwen, you don't need to try and convince me, it would be a waste of your time. You, Gwen Cooper. Are. Not. Leaving. This. Room! Jack's orders." With that he turned 180 and strolled out of the room, locking the door. With a scream The Soul Haunter hurled herself at the door, but it held firm.

"Hey! What's the hurry?" Gwen's shout echoed round her head. No need to yell, The Soul Haunter thought back, rubbing her head. "Sorry, but you squashing my brain patterns makes it harder for me to talk to you." She was still shouting. The Soul Haunter sighed, they may be her for quite a while, but she was going to get out, somehow. She would think on it, probably while Gwen paced around the small room which had become their cell. She sunk back into the depth and sent Gwen up to breathe.

Gwen stared at the ceiling. It wasn't very interesting, just concrete, but it had some patterns in it. To be honest, it was the most exciting thing in the room. She'd been in here for the past four hours, not including when she'd been unconscious and for most of it she'd been as bored as hell. The Soul Haunter wasn't being much use, she was either sulking or she was thinking. Gwen didn't believe she was thinking anything good. God knew what she was up to.

"Gwen," Ianto's voice came through the door. He sounded tired.

"Yeah?" she replied, sitting up.

"I know you're stuck in there, but, do you want a coffee?"

"Ianto, my saviour." Gwen smiled, she could feel The Soul Haunter smiling as well. Gwen listened to Iantos footsteps fading away. What are you planning? She asked The Soul Haunter.

"Nothing Gwen, I'm just as bored as you, I want to get out. Ianto will help." Help? Help how? What are you going to do? "Don't worry Gwen, I won't hurt him, permanently. No, I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else!

However, Gwen didn't have much choice in the matter, The Soul Haunter had taken over. Ianot could be heard on the other side of the door now, whistling James Bond, again. The Soul Haunter Rolled Gwen's eyes. He needed a new song. At the sound of the door unlocking she picked up a metal tray and smartly stepped behind the opening door. "Gwen?" Ianto steeped further into the room. The pressure was building up behind The Soul Haunter's eyes, it was now or never. Crash! She brought the tray down on his head. Hard. As he fell forward she caught him and lowered him onto the bed. Suddenly, Gwen surfaced. "Oh, god Ianto." She felt hot tears ting her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." She checked him over. He was fine, apart from the massive lump taking shape on his head. "I'm sorry Ianto, It's my fault. All my fault, oh…" her voice abandoned her as sobs wracked her body. Slowly she became aware of the pressure building up in her head. The Soul Haunter was angry. Gripping onto control, she removed Iantos earpiece and replaced it with her own. She did the same with the Torchwood mobiles. As soon as she had done that, she released her grip.

The Soul Haunter was shocked at what Gwen had done, but not as shocked as Gwen was. What the hell had she done?

Gwen, you're proving to be quite annoying, you know that?" I didn't mean to do it, Gwen argued. Honest, I don't even know how I did it! "Don't you dare do it again, otherwise…" she didn't finish her sentence, she didn't need to. Gwen could imagine what was going to happen. The Soul Haunter strolled into the main hub. She hadn't come across Owen yet, but when she did. Well, that depended on how fast he could run. Anyway, that wasn't why she had escaped from where they were holding her. There was something she needed to do. She walked to Tosh's station and quickly brought up some equations, which covered several of the screens. Her next stop was the rift manipulator, where she plugged in the computer lead. Gwen was, meanwhile, exhausted, she had sworn and screamed and thumped at the wall in her head, with no avail. Now she could only watch in horror as The Soul Haunter ran back to the switch and pulled the lever, splitting the rift wide open.


	19. Chapter 18

No one saw the light to begin with, they were all trying to get ready to storm Cardiff. It was a tiny light, red, and flashing steadily. Silently it blinked away to itself, until one of the soldiers noticed it's reflection in one of his bullets he was fitting into his gun. In a blink of an eye he was crouched beside it, staring intently, trying to figure out what it meant. Then it struck him. "Hardy," he called one of the other men over and pointed to the light." I think the Colonel might want to know about this."

He did. He was pacing in his office when Jack entered. Captain Jack Harkness. He was meant to make it better, all Torchwood had managed to do was make the whole situation worse. Typical. "Captain." He nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Sit. May I enquire as to where Miss. Sato is?" he gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Thanks." Jack sat, his grey army coat swishing as he did so. Beneath the great coat a flash of worn metal was visible. Jacks favourite gun, his Webley IV. "I'm afraid Toshiko was busy, some wedding plans Martha wanted to run by her."

"Unfortunate. They may both need briefing." The Colonel sat down in front of Jack.

"Briefing?" Jack wondered out loud.

"Yes, we have to advance our plans. Already the whole of Cardiff is under UNIT's command, civilians have been ordered back to their houses, and my men are ready to move out.

"Yes, yes. So why did you hurry your plans?"

"Because, Captain Jack Harkness. Something has opened the rift. Now, there's no way it is being opened from the other side, and it can't be any technology that's fallen through, you're too thorough for that to be the case. That leaves only one conclusion. It is being opened by your, what do you call it, Rift Changer? Manipulator? Anyway, the rift is being opened using your hub, which is supposed to be under shutdown. Your team is very good but sorry, you've been rumbled."

"What?!" Jack jumped to his feet. "It wasn't my team! They had nothing to do with it. They wouldn't!" he thought a second. "Well, not by choice." He said quietly to himself. The colonel stiffened at this murmur, but didn't question it. Jack took a breath, he had better go carefully. "So, what are you going to do?"

Well, I am placing your entire team under arrest. We have complete authority over you. Oh, and just to make sure, we're bringing Miss. Martha in as well. All friends together, hey."

"Why you…" Jack's hand shot towards his holster, but suddenly two men in black appeared behind him, they grabbed his arms wrenching them back. He bellowed in pain.

"Don't try anything Harkness." Jack noticed he had lost the rank of Captain. "Also, I suggest your team don't try anything either, otherwise, they may find themselves on the other side of a gun.

"Don't you dare hurt them!" Jack snarled. "I'm warning you! You need us. You don't know what's going on here, any more than we do!" at a nod of the Colonels head, his two heavies started to drag Jack towards the door. "Don't do this!" Jack was still trying to make the Colonel listen to him. He lowered his head until he could touch his ear.

"No." Colonel Mace knocked his hand away. "No comms for you." Jack grimaced.

"Why are you going after the others, Tosh, Martha, and the others at the hub? You have me, also how are you even going to get into the hub, it's not like they're going to let you in."

"They may not be acting on your orders, we need to eliminate all possible suspects. Starting with you." With this he walked smartly up to the door and slammed it in Jack's face.

Jack was still yelling as he was marched down the corridor. "Armaments, T59, boiled egg, no time to lose." The two men holding Jack looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. They had heard that Torchwood was slightly barmy, but this was insanity! Jack on the other hand, felt he was perfectly justified for screaming this as he was frog marched down the corridor; he just hoped the others got the message.


	20. Chapter 19

**AN: sorry I haven't updated in agesss, you probably all forgot/hate me :/ there was loads going on in my life involving grandparents, hamsters, arms, windows, surgery and a cat. (Not all related.) Anyway, I have finished it so hope to update at least twice a week, thanks to those who bother to read this after I abandoned you. If you want to hear my tale of the past few months pm me **

Exactly three minutes later Tosh and Martha joined him, hand cuffed. Martha had a large bruise, already going purple on her upper arm and Tosh had a cut on the side of her face. Immediately Jack felt the anger boiling inside of him, brushing the anger aside he walked over and gently touched Tosh's face. "You alright?" his tone attempted to his the fact he was seething.

"I'm fine Jack. Honestly. Calm down." Of course Tosh had known him too long to be fooled. It was the same story with Martha

"I'm a doctor Jack. Besides, you know for a fact that I've had worse. Don't worry, we'll both live." They were in a small room with one exit and one entrance. No windows. It was a bit too small for Tosh. Since UNIT had locked her in a cell, not unlike this one for six months, she really didn't get on with small spaces. Jack, sencing her feelings, as always, walked over and squeezed her shoulder.

"Don't worry, it'll be alright." He smiled, "Did you get it all done?" he lowered his voice.

"Yeh, sort of."! Tosh looked down at her feet. "Gwen was the only one on the Comms. I had to tell her." Jacks face tightened. "She didn't sound like herself, it was weird. She was Gwen, but at the same time, she wasn't Gwen.

"yea, I get what your saying. I thought that earlier, where were Ianto and Ianto?"

"Indisposed." Tosh looked at Jack, her eyes wide with fear. "Jack, what's happening?"

"I don't know." Jack wasn't sure what was happening, but he knew he didn't like the sound of 'indisposed'

"good job with the bug by the way. Martha stood across the cell from them.

"Thanks, it was a bit hit and miss to be honest. Glad it did work. Just hope the hub got the right message."

"They will have, it'll work out, don't worry." Martha smiled at them . Jack was still very agitated.

"Yes, but until then, we're stuck in here, unable to communicate with them. All we have is two guns, bugs, the comms and your contacts. We can't get anything in or out of the room, no signals, nothing.

"Then we'd better get comfy hadn't we." She smiled sadly.

"Come on then, you two. If we're going to be in her a while, why don't you tell me how you two met" tosh sat on the floor cross legged and patted beside her. Jack sighed and rolled his eyes.

"fine." He said eventually. He crouched next to her; Martha went and sat on her other side. "For me, it started when I left you guys. My glass jar, with the hand in…" before he could get any further a screeching noise came through their earpieces. They winced and immediately Tosh and Jack went to disconnect their earpieces, reflex, Martha presumed. Before they could turn them off they heard Gwen, she was almost yelling over a Klaxon, and, Jack presumed, there were lots of lights flashing. She sounded scared, but in control.

"Captain Jack Harkness, Toshiko Sato and Martha Jones. Listen hard and listen good!


End file.
